The SMARTBoard is a really cool program that lets users create their own interactive smartboard lessons. I was really excited first but quickly got frustrated at how things worked. I wished it was more user friendly and had an interactive tutorial that would let you mess around with all the features easily. I felt like most of the time I was confused trying to figure out how to navigate the different aspects of the program trying to make it do what I want it to do. I was frustrated at how long it took for me to develop a five minute lesson but I realized I was also just trying to figure out what needs to be done most of the time, so next time when I am supposed to make another one it shouldn't probably take as long.
The other issue is that I felt that the SMARTBoard caters better to groups of elementary school children and smaller groups, as it seems impossible for it to really engage large groups of students, especially high schoolers to get involved directly with the board. The ISBE standards requires for them to synthesize and analyze and it is kind of difficult for students to do that in a SMARTboard and in a very short time frame. I would perhaps think that it would be great if it had features that would directly engage with older students, but it could also perhaps be with a longer time frame than five minutes.
The SMARTBoard can be used by secondary school teachers to teach about graphing in Economics and Mathematics, mapping in Geography, text close readings for English and Language Arts, but the features for it is still limited. Most of the animations are geared towards younger children, and wouldn't be deemed "cool enough" for highschoolers.
Concerns however, is that SMARTBoards costs a lot of money. And with debates of funding and what to spend, I think spending on SMARTBoards is less likely in contrast to spending on Google Chromebooks. I think Chromebooks have a better way in getting all the students engaged and covers a wider scope of age groups, and is more flexible to how the teachers might use it to assist in students' learning. This also makes it seem that only richer, privately funded schools have access to these SMARTBoards, and if these boards actually boosts achievements, it could possibly be causing a greater disparity in achievement acquisition in the different socio-economic groups.
Overall, I think with more practice and experimenting with the program, I might be able to give a better review over the program. But for now, I would say that incorporating the SMARTBoard in the classroom should be something that teachers should at the very least learn to try to do.
Kezia, you are right that a longer lesson would allow for you to do more to engage older students, but it all depends on what you do with it. With larger classes, you can still get students coming up to the board and doing things, but it takes more time for them to get up there too.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right about the learning value compared to the cost, but at this point, since so many of these boards are in so many schools, it would be a disservice to you if you were not at least familiar with how they work and what they can do. You may find yourself in a school in which you are expected to use what has been bought.